Technology
Overview Prometheus is set in 2214 by the Terran calendar, 200 years into the future from today. That might not seem like a long time, but as far as technology is concerned, it is still incredibly advanced. The Prometheus setting's technology levels are intended to accomplish two things: * Technology helps to solve problems, but it doesn't trivialize them. In some Sci-Fi settings, it's too easy for super-technologies of the distant future to make every single situation easily solvable... but that isn't very interesting for RP (and are regularly misused by powergamers)! * Technologies have a degree of gritty realism; even if incredible technologies exist, they're also incredibly expensive, requiring vast infrastructures, and possibly rare materials to produce. Nothing should ever effectively be 'space magic'. Restricted Technologies Some technologies are common to a variety of existing science fiction settings, but are not appropriate for Prometheus, and the following kinds of technologies (or anything which closely resembles them) are prohibited from being used. Teleportation There is no existing technology within Prometheus' setting that can be applied effectively for point-to-point transportation. Travel is always done either on foot, or by vehicle, and cars, hovercraft or shuttles are the primary tool of choice for regular commutes over long distances. Any features or character tools in the sim which make use of teleporting (example: our various travel pads to different parts of the sim) are STRICTLY OOC, and it must be assumed that some other kind of travel was used to get there. Nanomachines Nanotechnology is a complicated subject, but more often than not becomes an implement that is poorly understood or utilized effectively in storytelling. Because of its complicated nature, and frequent misuse, all forms of autonomous nanotechnologies, specifically nanomachines, are prohibited from RP. Replicators There is no technology within the setting that is capable of creating matter from energy, nor of quickly restructuring one kind of matter into another at the push of a button. Food is either fresh, or packaged, preserved and shipped, clothes are made by hand or machines, and various materials must be produced the old-fashioned way, by industrial methods and fabrication. Standard Technologies With what can't be used established, let's go over some of the technologies that do exist, but are often more limited than what a player might be used to from other kinds of science fiction: Food Without replicators, it should be fairly obvious what people of the future eat... damn near everything! Much like Terra, alien species have foods that come in all varieties, derived from meat and plants from across the sector, and much of it is suitable for consumption by other species, at least when prepared correctly. However, although fresh food is preferred, it is often a luxury in deep space, or on remote colonies like Aloha, where supplies and space are limited, and food must often be more efficient than delicious. To that end, there are several kinds of "packaged" meals that colonists are probably incredibly familiar with: Nutri-paste The jack-of-all-trades Nutri-Paste is the product that effectively ends hunger... although not in a delicious way. Nutri-paste is a mass of nutrient and calorie-rich goo that, when processed correctly (usually by automated dispenser machines) can be textured, hardened, and flavored in a variety of ways to approximately emulate other foodstuffs. Although Nutri-Paste is an incredibly efficient food, particularly on spaceships, even the best processors available don't make it particularly appetizing for most species... but it gets the job done. You know you'll never go hungry with Nutri-Paste around. Meal Strips Similar to Nutri-Paste, Meal Strips are small, thin slabs of dense foodstuffs, similar to fruit leather, jerkey, or candy bars in appearance. A single high-quality Meal Strip can be expected to contain most of the vitamins and nutrients that a member of a given species needs in a day. They aren't very filling, but are an excellent survival food, particularly when supplemented by less-nutritious, but readily-available filling foods, like such as breads and other grains. Strips come in a variety of flavors made by various brands, and several different variants designed to provide the right nutrition to various different species, tailored to their dietary needs. M.R.E. Favored by militaries across the sector, Meals Ready to Eat are freeze-dried, preserved, incredibly dense and efficient single-package meals that provide absolutely every nutritional requirement for their designated species for an entire day, even given the rigorous physical demands of high-activity jobs like soldiers, and can even be spread out over multiple days in rough survival situations. M.R.E.s are famous for their variety of available packaged meals, and the trading of various dishes from the random assortment packaged in each between soldiers is incredibly common. Shields | Hardlight Hardlight is an incredbly new, bleeding-edge technology which is making its way around the sector, and being slowly improved to more versatile levels. Hardlight is a method by which semi-physical barriers of energy can be projected into relatively empty spaces, and it is most commonly used as a defensive implement... unfortunately, Hardlight barriers are still incredibly limited, and projectors are only capable of forming them in BASIC GEOMETRIC SHAPES. Common examples of Hardlight technologies are single-direction barriers, used like a classic knight's shield, deployable Hardlight barriers, or spheres that surround entire vehicles or starships, for added protection. However, Hardlight barriers are far from perfect, or invincible, and a projector has a limited energy output, which means that when used for combat purposes, a Hardlight barrier is likely only to stand up to a few solid blows, or only one or two shots from a modern weapon, before failing. Hardlight barriers are also limited in that the projector creating the barrier inherits any force delivered against it, as if the two were simply connected like physical objects, which makes them hardly effective against being struck by massive objects like vehicles (though they might soften the blow of impact marginally), or against powerful explosives. Hardlight projections have seen some limited use as experimental weapons, but the limitations of hardlight emitters causes them to short out when they (by the laws of physics) take just as much force as they deliver, making them far less effective than physical implements... for most purposes. Holograms | Softlight Where Hardlight is limited to only basic shapes, softlight is a much more versatile technology, which uses optical illusions and low-energy fields to create the illusion of feedback. Softlight keyboards and computer displays are an incredibly popular technology, and more expensive, larger projectors are often used for interactive virtual companions, or AIs. However, unlike Hardlight, Softlight projectors are not capable of withstanding much force before being completely disrupted, so they are not capable of much more than being casually touched or looked at. Energy | Ballistic Weapons The first thing to establish: all weapons have, effectively, the same upper limits. A laser beam, blaster or plasma bolt can be just as effective as a bullet, but never MORE effective. Energy weapons are exotic, and have their own advantages and disadvantages over traditional ballistic, kinetic-energy based weapons, but in any weapon size category, a traditional kinetic weapon is always going to be the benchmark against other weapons are measured. Energy weapons can be lethal, but it takes a LOT of "raw" energy to be as physically destructive as a bullet fired past the speed of sound. So, both for the sake of balanced combat, and ease of RP for everyone involved, energy weapons and ballistic weapons are effectively the same (Example, a heavy particle-beam pistol might be comparable to a high-caliber hand-gun). Types of Weapons Chemically-propelled Kinetic Either in metal cartridge form, or caseless, the most common kind of weapon (and the one commonly favored by Terrans) is that which uses explosive powder to launch a metal projectile at lethal velocities. Loud and dirty, but incredibly effective, and cheap to produce. Modern-style weapons fit in this category. Railguns | Gauss Weapons Rather than use explosive chemicals, these weapons use magnetism and electrical currents to fling similar metal projectiles at similarly incredible speeds. The advantage of these types of weapons is that they can often carry large amounts of ammo, as they do not need to have propellant-filled cases, and need only a charged battery to keep going, and with fewer moving parts, are less prone to jamming. However, they do still require both ammunition, and electrical power for continuous use, and users often have to weigh themselves down with, and find themselves reloading fresh batteries in the middle of combat. Lasers The original holy grail of futuristic weapons, lasers have seen less and less use in modern personal combat. Although incredibly accurate at moderate ranges and with no recoil to boot, the bloom of a directed beam of cohesive, high-energy light waves in an atmosphere is incredibly limiting, and their power consumption is quite incredible with sustained fire. That being said, pinpoint accuracy out to medium ranges, lack of recoil, and instantaneous travel to target still makes them a competitive choice. Particle Blasters | Plasma Bolts Incredibly similar in function, particle and plasma weapons fundamentally do the same thing: fire a coalesced bolt of high-energy particles in a deadly blast, in the general direction of something you want to kill. Utilizing superdense matter cells, or plasma cartridges, these weapons supercharge a bundle of "glowing death" and fire it at their target. And unlike lasers, in addition to high heat, particle/plasma weapons deliver a significant amount of kinetic force, inflicting a mix of both types of damage. Although these types of weapons don't have to worry about much in the way of moving parts of jamming, damaged weapons are known for having a propensity to overload, possibly melting or exploding in the user's hands if not taken good care of, and the equipment required to make cartridges for either kind makes them a more expensive choice in areas where it can't be locally manufactured. Armor Since combat in Prometheus is unmetered, it's up to the roleplayers involved to responsibly use and represent armor, though it's important to remember that no matter which type you have, none of it will make you invincible! Armor has always had a hard time keeping up with offensive technologies, throughout history, and the future is no different. Armor comes in four major categories, with subdivisions of "Light" and "Heavy" variants in most: Standard Body Armor Coming in the form of layered ceramic, polymer, and/or alloy plates, often with kevlar and/or a mix of normal energ-dissipating materials, standard body armor is the go-to for most personal defense needs. Even regularly used by the military, standard body armor is effective against anything but the most high-powered of man-portable weaponry, often able to absorb a handful of shots (to its major protective areas) before being rendered useless, usually more than enough to save someone's life. Light Body Armor is quite easy to move in, if a bit heavy, but offers significant protection to the torso and head, though the limbs are frequently more exposed, while Heavy Body Armor makes up for those weaknesses by offering additional plates that cover more of the body, enough to protect even against small close-range explosions, albeit at the cost of being much heavier, and hindering movement. Environmental Body Armor Typically used in space, extreme environments, or when chemical agents or smoke could be a likely factor, Environmental Body Armor, or EBA for short, supplements the same protection as both Light and Heavy variants of Standard with underlaid environmentally-sealed suits, fully-enclosed helmets, and an isolated, usually filtered air supply. EBA is not much more effective than Standard Body Armor when it comes to protection from small-arms fire, but prevents ill-effects from smoke, sandstorms, tear gas, limited amounts of radiation, or being caught in the vacuum of space (at least as long as your air supply holds out). Powered Armor Where EBA stops at integrated survival systems and full-body protection, Powered Armor takes things one step further, adding in servos, actuators, memory polymers, synthetic muscles, and computer systems that not only provide the expected level of protection, but actually improve the physical capabilities of the wearer. A properly calibrated suit of powered armor can augment strength, stabilize firing accuracy, enable faster sprinting, and in the best models, include automated medical units which can attempt to constrict fibers around wounds, and inject drugs and chemicals to increase survivability when injuries are sustained. The downside to Powered Armor is that it is magnitudes more expensive than even the best EBA suits available, often comparable to a new car or small civilian shuttle, and any damage sustained in combat can be similarly expensive to repair. Robotic Powered Armor When Powered Armor isn't enough, Robotic Powered Armor (RPA) doesn't just enhance physical abilities, it outright replaces them. The equivalent of a walking assault vehicle, RPA is the cadillac of armors, standing at least one-and-a-half times the size of the wearer, and including everything you might expect to find in your typical military combat vehicle, from medical systems and environmental systems to pure robotic strength and heavy weaponry, sometimes even mounting light artillery. Don't be mistaken though, RPA is incredibly expensive, with similar upkeep and initial costs to a modern tank or high-performance fighter craft. RPA has often been criticized for being over-specialized and under-performing, as although it can mount non-man-portable weapons, navigate terrain, and provides incredible protection, it is also incredibly vulnerable to anything designed to destroy vehicles, even simple shaped explosives from the 21st century. RPA is a restricted armor classification, only used by militaries and extremely wealthy PMCs in special situations, and should not typically be available to players. Cybernetics Cybernetics are incredibly advanced in 2214, but still have a number of limitations, and a long way to go. Cybernetics can replace some, or almost all of a subject's body, and are available to every species, providing enhanced, robotic strength, superior reflexes, and more durable protections, and replaceable limbs and organs. However, there is still one limitation that cybernetics have never been able to overcome: digital consciousness. A cyborg, no matter how much of the rest of him or her is replaced, must always have an intact brain, usually protected by a cybernetic casing within the body. Every attempt in the past, for over 100 years, has failed to ever translate a human or alien consciousness into a pure digital format, regardless of the advancement of technology... it is as if there is simply a limit to how far life can be integrated with technology, and many modern cyber-ethicists and philosophers suggest that this may be evidence of a "soul" in sapient species. Faster-than-light Travel In Prometheus, although FTL is rarely impactful to the player experience. It can be important for RP to understand what technologies exist, which have enabled the various species of the sector to mingle among the stars. The first limitation to understand is that, because of the nature of these FTL technologies, there is no reliable form of FTL communication. Without FTL courier ships, communication from system-to-system would take decades, and so each planetary system is effectively isolated from even its closest neighbors, with their own information networks and cultures, to which new updates are regularly delivered by modern courier ships, bringing news and content from friendly systems. The only exception to this are the handful of worlds with are connected by Jump Gates, which regularly receive communication updates when the gates are open, but the limited duration and time between open connections still keeps separate stars from ever being in true instant contact. There are three methods of FTL travel in the Prometheus setting: Warp Drive The oldest, and slowest of FTL technologies, Warp Drive uses a bubble of oscilating space around its warp engine, which collapses and expands that space, allowing the vessel to be "moved" through space in a way that doesn't violate any laws of relativity. However, Warp Drive is still, in spite of its miraculous effects, incredibly slow... even traveling ten times the speed of light, a journey of forty lightyears would still take four years to complete. Warp Drive is, for this reason, usually only used for in-system travel, shortening trips between planets that share a star to only a few minutes, rather than a few weeks, or by massive, automated (guided entirely by computer) transport ships, with large enough power reactors capable of reaching high warp speeds, though their trips still take upwards of several months to complete, and are most often unmanned. Jump Drive The opposite of warp, Jump Drives are one of the newest technologies to grace the U.C.F. and its neighbors, and enables near-instant travel between even the most distant of star systems... but is incredibly expensive, and limited in several ways. Jump Drives and Jump Gates form artificial wormholes between two points in space, where there must be at least a properly calibrated jump beacon, or sister Jump Gate on the other end to receive the connecting wormhole... unguided wormholes are incredibly dangerous, and no ship or beacon has ever returned from one. Additionally, Jump Drives and Jump Gates are incredibly energy-demanding to operate, requiring the equivalent power of an entire city for a month to keep open for even a few minutes. Because of these limitations, Jump Drives are often kept on reserve for emergencies, and the few Jump Gates between capital systems of U.C.F. allied species are usually opened only on monthly schedules. Hyperspace It is known by different names, hyperspace, subspace, bluespace, slipspace, and many more, but all refer to the same phenomenon: a parallel dimension to our own universe, closely tied to it, and capable of being entered with the right application of energies, with strange, unpredicable properties which make navigating it nearly impossible. Distance in hyperspace does not correlate directly to distance in real space, and that relationship regularly distorts and changes; traveling a few miles in one direction could drop you off only a few feet from where you started upon exit, or deposit you hundreds of lightyears away. Attempts have been made to map out some of these features in the otherwise void-like Hyperspace, but only the most ambiguous of charts have ever been produced, and even the most advanced AIs and navigation systems become quickly lost amidst its chaos. There is one way to navigate hyperspace, however... instinct. Living beings from all races have a hotly debated, and poorly understood connection to the strange properties of Hyperspace; some call it proof of the soul, others believe it to be some kind of psychic connection, but what is undisputed is that a properly trained Hyperspace Navigator can get a ship almost exactly where it needs to be with startling regularity, all by flying on gut instinct. Where a warp ship might take months to get between worlds, a Hyperdrive ship with a good navigator can get there in days. Hyperdrive-capable ships, and their associated Hyperspace Navigators, now make up the bulk of all travel among the known races, and are what has made the interstellar age truly possible. Credit Price Estimates Since we have been asked a few times on how many credits certain items cost, here are a few base cost estimates to help out! (These may be changed later on) Basic Meal: 30 Cred Basic Car: 20 K Shuttle (Interplanet.): 500 K Shuttle (Stellar): 2.5 mil Fighter (Interplanet): 6 mil Freighter: 30 mil Frigate: 50 mil Cruiser/Warship: 500 mil Note: Transport services can carry interplanetary craft to and from star systems, so warp is not entirely a necessity. Navigation Category:Browse